![]() ![]() Still, it’s unlikely that Chesapeake will be her breakout album. In terms of the individual tracks, nothing matches “Worn Me Down” from her first album, but this third offering provides a more consistent experience than Yamagata’s previous two. Chesapeake is more of an album than just a collection of songs, begging to be listened to in its entirety. The song’s protagonist describes herself as one who would “take tragedy over a fairy tale” and is “an expert of the silver lining.” The upbeat tempo and major chords seem to suggest someone who embraces tragedy but in a very playful tone.Īnd though some tracks are more exciting than others, there’s not a dud in the bunch. The highlight of the record is “The Way It Seems to Go,” which is catchy and has a sound that perhaps can be described as industrial country, but that doesn’t quite do it justice. However, Yamagata’s voice and introspective lyrics give the songs a sense of semblance, so even as the album jumps around the record store, there’s still a feeling of cohesiveness that it all belongs together. We refer to this genre-juxtaposition as “pop music,” and it has the danger of alienating listeners if the songs are too different. While a song such as “Starlight” might fit in on a Muse record with its distorted guitar sound, it’s immediately followed by a syncopated Jack Johnson-esque rhythm guitar in “Saturday Morning,” and later on in the album, we get “Stick Around,” which has a Norah Jones bare-bones jazzy feel to it. Reunited with John Alagía, who produced her first record, Happenstance, Yamagata offers 10 songs, each with a different enough sound to keep the album from becoming monotonous. Although it doesn’t break any new ground, it’s good enough that it doesn’t need to. Her latest album, Chesapeake, is a collection of all the usual pop staples about the lovesick blues and the moments that make the struggle worthwhile. Or at least it seems that easy when that girl is Rachael Yamagata. Give a pretty girl a guitar and tell her sing to about heartache, and that seems like all you need to make a solid pop album.
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